Food Trail: Ah Leng is one of Taiping’s best-kept secrets

The char koay teow is perfectly fried, cheap and tasty.

THERE’S no doubt that Taiping in Perak has the cheapest street food on the planet.

I made my way there recently and found a char koay teow stall worthy
of mention.

But before I proceed, I would like to thank reader K.W. Wong for sharing his find.

His e-mail reads: “Dear Samo, I would like to introduce you to a makan stall near the Pudu wet market. There is a stall there that specialises in cheeng thong meen (soup noodles) and its pretty cheap.

“A bowl of noodles costs only RM4 and you can ask for karr-lieu by just adding RM1 extra.”

Thank you for the heads-up, Mr Wong. I will give it a try when I have the time.

Okay, back to our trip to Taiping, I found a stall at the Larut-Matang food court (N 04 50.977, E 100 44.434) off Jalan Panggung Wayang in the town area that sells char koay teow.

It’s stall number 83 and the namesake of the makan place is Ah Leng Char Koay Teow.

Now, in Penang, there are at least five stalls that go by the same moniker. But this was in Taiping, so I guess there’s no direct relation between the Ah Leng in Taiping and his counterparts in Penang.

A plate of char koay teow with cockles and eggs costs RM3.

This is by far the cheapest fried noodles dish I have come across in Peninsular Malaysia.

So, what about taste? I must say that the char koay teow seller has enough kung fu moves with his
wok to present a dish that is tasty and perfectly fried.

Head to stall No. 83 for Ah Leng’s char koay teow at the Larut-Matang food court in Jalan Panggung Wayang, Taiping.

Even the plump and juicy taugeh (bean sprouts) that came with the dish was excellent.

On the Samo-scale, I would rate Ah Leng’s char koay teow an 8.5 out of 10.

Now, if you are thinking of giving this makan place a try, be reminded that it opens only for breakfast and lunch.

And no char koay teow experience in the Larut-Matang food court would be complete without ais kacang.

This came at RM1.20 a bowl and was really good.

Taiping is easily accessible via the North-South Expressway and if you love to travel by rail, there are two options – take the ETS to Ipoh (two-hour ride) and transfer to Taiping town by bus, or take the intercity coach from KL Sentral and get off at the historical Taiping station.